W40k We are the Guardsmen
by FenrisAD
Summary: Read the tale of Octavian, a boy that just joined the Imperial Guard and suddenly finds himself in the middle of a conlfict far bigger than him.
1. Prologue

As the bullets flew around me I came to realize that our stand was nothing but a hopeless fight. But we are the Guardsmen, and even in the darkest of hours we will fight until the last man, I threw that thought off my head, and quickly reloaded my rifle as I saw bunch of Orks overrun a heavy bolter emplacement, ripping the Guardsmen head off and breaking the gun in the ground.

I sprayed my gun against a group of Orks that rushed our position, some crumbled in their run, three of them crumbled to meet death and the others were quickly cut off by my mates. I turned my attention to a group of Guardsmen retreating from a destroyed emplacement, five in total.

"Octavian, cover us!" one of them yelled, desperate. I raised my gun with a somewhat lackluster confidence and sprayed at a group of Orks right next to them. Two of them fell to the ground dead; the others were able to hide into rocks, I kept suppressing them so they couldn't get the jump on the running guardsmen. It was thinking of how much time my ammo would last when I heard the loud bang of the Lemon Russ, the giant blast created a strange buzz into my ears.

But what was the buzz in my ears compared to the Ork's fate, because as their cover was blown to hell, their body parts flew into a gruesome show. As I saw the bits of Orks flying around, landing into the strangest of places, I couldn't help myself but smile. What an incredible display of fireworks, I would love that work if it wasn't for the murderous green creatures jumping at me.

As the other five guardsmen joined me in the trenches the Leman Russ fired yet another shot, more body parts flew into the air, some even fell inside the trenches, spreading the strange smell that only Ork blood can provide. I took a quick glance at my comrades, the one who called my attention joined me, and he gave me a small thumb up and said: "Nice work Octavian, we would be dead meat without you."

I was then filled with a strange joy that only war can bring to a man; still, I was filled with an overwhelming fear: fear of the Orks, fear of my own kin seeing me as a coward, and thus as a heretic, and thus being shoot in the back by the watchful eye of the commissar. I just wanted all that to be over soon. I was just a new guy; I wasn't supposed to see all that action in my third day of work.

Was I?

My entire line of thought was cut when I heard the scream coming from the other side of the trench: "Incoming!" I raised my head just in time to see a bunch of Orks entering the trenches in jetpacks. The shooting intensified from one minute to another, they were so close that I couldn't help but shake when I pointed my gun towards them, spraying and praying for the god emperor.

One of the Orks jumped against me, at the time it all happened so fast I couldn't understand, my mind entered an automatic mode, I didn't think, I just acted. As he came towards me at incredible speed my first reactions was to turn and run, but as I turned I saw him with the corner of my eye, he was just standing there – the commissar, with his pistol in hand. I restrained myself and lunged towards the Ork with my bayonet with a loyalty that only fear could induce.

A sound of flesh being ripped apart was the only thing I heard. I thought that either he was dead or I was about to be. I turned around to see the Ork in the ground, bleeding because of a giant cut on its chest. I was filled with a sensation of job well done.

That was before the Leman Russ fired its heavy flamers against the other side of the trenches, pulverizing the rest of the Orks and exposing my back to a violent heat. When the weapon finally ended blazing the trenches I took the mistake of waiting a second, a single second to breathe, because in that exact moment a barrage from the Orks Shooters machineguns spread chaos amongst the trenches, I felt a sting and then a burning pain as two bullets entered my left arm and propelled me against the ground, I yelled in pain. I had never felt something so terrible my whole life.

"Shit! Octavian, hang on ok-"the man was interrupted by the loud stampede of the Leman Russ, it caused a lot of damage, because I heard Orks screaming as a giant building crumbled right next to the trenches. A hand touched my chest in a firmly but friendly way, and once again I heard that voice. It was Julius, the man I had rescued previously. "Octavian, hang on, don't you die on me! This is only your third day, guardsmen!"

When he finished his sentence his voice was but an echo to me, and as my vision slowly became gray, I had lost all my fear. If I was to die there, at least I died with honor. The last thing I saw was drop pods falling from the sky, our last hope laid there.

A job well done.

They had arrived.

I heard the Leman Russ once again, spreading destruction to the Ork forces. My last hearing before I delved deep into my sleep, knocked out clean.


	2. Chapter 1

I woke up with the strange smell of dead bodies and dry blood. At first, I had this strange sensation that if I opened my eyes, I would be a dead man, but then I heard Julius voice in the distance, and more human voices.

I slowly opened my eyes, my vision was blurred and I felt a constant sting. I slowly turned my head around, looking at the place; my head was also hurting like hell. The place was a makeshift base of operations inside a semi-crumbled building; a listening post had been set up to the left of the door alongside a barracks. I was in the other side, in what I supposed was the infirmary.

"Look who woke up." Said a friendly voice right next to me, a medic "How is your arm doing?"

I tried to speak once, but my throat was so dry that I couldn't bring myself to speak. I restrained myself to coughing and giving a thumb up, but, in fact, my arm was still hurting like hell, but it wasn't a quarter of the gruesome pain that I felt before; it was like more a strange sting of a bee that burned like fire, but I wasn't bleeding. I was okay.

At least I wasn't dead.

The medic laughed a bit, as he extended me a cup with water in.

My eyes sparkled with passion, I quickly grabbed the cup and drunk the water with ferocity. I never in my life imagined water was so good, as that liquid dripped in my tongue and made its way to ma throat I felt an uncreditable pleasure, like if all my problems had been solved at once. When I finally finished the cup, it felt like all my body had been cured by mystic water. The pain had decreased, my throat wasn't soaring anymore and my eyes weren't blurred anymore. I tried to speak, but this time around things were different, "Thanks".

"No problem, it's my job to keep the fellow Guardsmen healthy" he said, moving forward to another Guardsman, right in front of me. That guy had lost a good chunk of his right leg.

I took a more comfortable position in the bed. I remembered my life before joining with the guard; I was the worst kind of scum that you could think of, a savage gang-fighter. Killing and robbing was in my daily routine, it was a decent life, and it helped me get through some hard time. Me and my gang put terrors in the street, and we were quickly gaining respect with the other gangs, but my friends crossed a line I wouldn't cross – a crime so dirty and sick I couldn't bring myself to join them or watch them as they did it, I picked up my gun and killed all of them, and when I was finished I ripped their heads apart and put them into stakes.

Those sick fucks.

I joined the Guardsmen to run from my past and to try to forget my many deeds, but mainly to try to forget what my friends ended up to become. I'm glad I put them down; I fear what kind of monster they would become If I let they keep up with their rampage of crimes, that each day became more dirty and brutal.

I was then shipped off to this planet; I received training alongside my mates. The man in charge of the training was Julius, and we quickly created a friendly relation, I don't like to use the word friendship because I don't know how would be the reaction of the others to this. At this point, I don't believe there is friendship inside the army. Just a mutual felling of "We are a bunch of normal guys fucking with the biggest powers of the universe, might as well be friendly".

We touched down on the planet as a garrison; to protect it and make sure no xeno scum would fuck with it. I was happy the two first days, we made some patrols, set some defenses and proceed to drink some ale before heading to bed. Well, the third day all this went to hell.

Those strange drop pods of the Orks came in the hundreds, we rushed to our positions. Faith in our hearts and weapons on our hands we waited for the Ork attack, and it came. It came like a hurricane; in the first few hours of combat our numbers had been halved. I only survived because I was lucky enough to be assigned to a bunker in the far reaches of our defenses, when the news of our losses in only the first wave came, we were forced to fall back into the city plaza, creating trenches, repositioning the tanks and sending a distress signal for help.

And then that all happened. I killed some Orks, took some bullets.

My vision… Before I went black. Maybe our help has arrived, the people we've been calling since the invasion got worst. I don't know, but maybe the fact I'm alive proves that they are here. I never liked those guys before, I always saw them as arrogant fucks that think they can put their dick where they please, but now I understood: they are necessary.

Well, the answer came walking through the door. The clinging metal of the power armor, I rose my head a bit to see some of the walking through the door; five of the blue ones. Ultramarines were the name of those I think.

They joined the group of guardsmen in the listening post; they were talking to Lucius like he was in charge there. Well, maybe he was in charge there; it could have happened that all superiors had died, and as Lucius would be the highest ranking officer there, he would thus be put in charge. That would be bad for Lucius; I think he never had experience in command.

They talked for some minutes before it happened. At first I didn't understood, people crowded the windows, looking to the sky, a strange expression of hopelessness filled the faces of the Guardsmen, and even the Ultramarines assumed a strange expression, fear? No, more like apprehension. Lucius shouted some orders for some nearby mans, they ran for the door – guns in hand.

I looked to the ceiling, and trough strangely shaped whole, probably caused by a blast, the truth was revealed to me. Hundreds and hundreds of those Ork drop pods, falling from the sky.

Millions and millions more.

God help us all.


	3. Chapter 2

Millions and millions more… How would we be able to defend a force so massive? Even with the Ultramarines by our side, how could we defeat a force that outnumbers us ten to one? I saw the Ultramarines leaving the room, Lucius right behind them. One by one, almost all the Guardsmen left the room at some point.

In the end only the doctors and the wounded remained in the room. That included me, and my fucked up arm. My leg twitched strangely as a mix of emotions floated around my mind; fear, passion and hatred. A dangerous mix of emotions, and probably if there was a Librarian right next to me, I would be executed right here, right now.

The doctor came towards me again; his expression was filled with a strange feeling of sadness. "They need me in the front lines…" he said, in a monochromatic voice as he sat down on the ground, right next to me "They sat they need me in the front lines, killing Orks." He took a deep breath, trying to find hope somewhere "I'm a doctor! I should stay here and help, not leave them to die…"

I couldn't express myself; anything that I said would be just random blabber. He was right; he should stay, help the wounded, and get them back into the fray. He shouldn't be thrown into the lines like an expendable resource, a medic. I don't even know how much of them we have on planet. We needed that man tending to the wounded. "Don't worry Doc, just go. Stay behind the Ultramarines and everything will be fine."

"Thanks…" he said, "But my fear isn't dying in battle. I fear for the lives of the wounded here."

I smiled, even in war; a doctor is still a doctor.

My chainsword ripped through the greenskin like he was a giant piece of paper. Pelt, meat and bones were ripped in a matter of instants, the blood spilled all over me as the two pieces of the creature fell to the ground.

My two brothers pushed a big horde of Orks back with heavy fire from their Bolters, thus giving the Guardsmen a chance to storm an Ork machinegun emplacement. The Guardsmen jumped toward the Orks with bravery, the Greenskins didn't stand a chance. One of the Guardsmen finished the Ork that was in the machinegun by quickly placing the bayonet in its stomach, ripping it apart and spilling guts at the floor.

I quickly turned around, pushing my sword through an Ork's chest, the creature made a quick shout of pain, but he was interrupted by the cold embrace of death. I pulled the sword out, and taking advantage of the momentum sliced another Ork's head off, the head flew some meters in a gruesome display. Another one of the creatures attacked me in the back with an axe, it was futile, and my armor stood the hit. I turned around, angry, and put my hands around his neck, and broke it. I broke it like it was nothing.

As I turned around to witness the progress of the fight, one of my brothers shouted me by name "Tulius! Look!" I looked at him as he pointed towards the Guardsmen that had previously overrun the machinegun emplacement. One by one, they were slowly massacred by an Ork Mech, one of the Orks terrible war machines, a heretic contraption of incredible firepowerpower. He moved through the Guardsmen like they were paper, cutting them apart with its blades, and burning their flesh with flamers.

"Where are the Leman Russes?" I shouted, heading into the direction of my brothers.

"They are cutting down the Ork supply line north of here" Gabriel spoke as he reloaded his bolter, my other brother, Nero, stood alongside him "What should we do to that thing?"

I finally joined them, picking up a heavy flamer that lied in the ground "Bring me the rocket launcher Nero, Gabriel go pick up the Guardsmen we left in the trenches near the weapons depot, take them through the underground tunnels to help the squad with the Leman Russes, we need them, fast. I'll stay here and hold those trenches until you two come back."

They confirmed with a quick headshake and quickly ran to fulfil their tasks. I jumped inside the trenches just as a group of Orks came running. I smirked and pushed the trigger of the flamer, a burning hatred came out of the gun, killing all the Orks that were coming towards me in a quick second, the only thing that they left behind was the smell of ashes.

Another group surprised me with a quick attack by the left, one of the lunged at me with his axe. I was able to deflect the attack with the flamer, but the impact slipped the gun out of my hands. I reached for the chainsword just in time to deflect another attack, the Ork didn't withstand the impact, and thus his defenses were flawed. I made a quick movement and tore his arm apart with the sword, as he shouted in pain I connect my shoulder pad with his jaw in a quick strike, the creature fell to the ground, screaming.

The other ones arrived shortly after, but to no avail. I quickly dispatched the first one by cutting his head off with my sword. The other started an attack, but I held his hand, broke it, threw him in the ground, and then stomped his head. As I exploded the creatures head in a blood fest I lunged toward the last one, ripping his chest in two with my sword.

I saw them with the corner of my eyes, two Ork Shooters were taking position to shoot me in the back. I holstered my sword and quickly picked my Bolter, it wasn't fast enough tough, because one of them managed to place a few shoots on me, but I soon reached cover. The dumb creatures tried to suppress me with their weapons, but they ended up without a single bullet in their chambers. I rose from cover, and with quick shoots I dispatched of the creatures.

But then I heard it… That monstrosity was coming right towards me. With its spinning blades, and heavy flamers… I was doomed, but I'm a Space Marine – we are made to win even the hardest of fights.

Me and the Doctor finally arrived at the nearby trenches, a good quantity of Guardsmen stayed there, holding the line from attackers. In case they fell, the Orks would have access to the tunnels, and thus, an easy attack to the heart of the city would be possible.

We arrived at the first checkpoint; another makeshift listening post was made. Lesser than the other, but sill remarkable for the resources we had. Five soldiers stood there, holding their guns and aware of every heartbeat. Lucius was one of them. He quickly spotted me and the medic, granting us.

"Thank the emperor you are here doc." He then looked at me, with a smile on his face "You too boy, it's good to see you are still in the fight with us." It wasn't completely true, my arm still hurt like hell, but I was ready to fight, and we needed every man we could have. "Okay, you two should join the group who is going into the tunnels; you'll be safer there with the Ultramarine."

Me and the doctor agreed, but I was kind of worried. I didn't want to work with the Space Marines, but these were my orders, and I wouldn't disobey them.


End file.
